The Most Successful Workout Program

Whatís Your Most Effective Workout Routine? Below I Share Some of Mine.

Iím interested in seeing what has worked best for you guys. What program have you seen the best results with, whether it was a known program or your own concoction. Where do you see your best gains and what ďtricksĒ have helped you blast past plateaus and those difficult stagnant points.

I will share what I have learned and what I have had success with. No, Iím nothing special or huge or anything, but I did start this sport as a 150 pound weakling. Now Iím a 210 pound weakling! Over the years I have made good progress. Some months more then others but lagging periods were typically due to proper vs. improper dieting/caloric intake or less effective training methods.

DC Training

This program is one that many are familiar with. It's called Dogg Crapp or DC Training created by Dante Trudel. Here are two important links that will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about DC Training...plus it's by the source itself and not second hand information.

You will have two workouts that will focus on compound movements and hit all major bodyparts (except for traps which are worked through other exercises like deadlifts). You label them as workout "A" and workout "B". These are to be alternated every other time. For example, you workout Mon, Wed, and Fri. So then you would have done workout A on Mon, then B on Wed, and then A again on Fri. Take the weekend to recover. Then the next Mon you start on B since you last ended with A. So that week would be B on Mon, A on Wed, and then B again on Fri. It all evens out.

This routine is for advanced bodybuilders. Basically it's for those that have been lifting for years and are familiar with their body and limits. There is an even more advance version that I will now post but is not for me yet. I'll get my hands wet before I plunge in! You must be careful to do it right and avoid injury.

Alternate and much more advance routine:
This adds a workout "C" to the week. The breakdown looks like this:

Workout A:
-Biceps
-Forearms
-Back Width
-Back Thickness

Workout B:
-Chest
-Shoulders
-Triceps

Workout C:
-Calves
-Hamstrings
-Quadriceps

Variation of muscle exercise used:
DC Training has a list of approved exercises that you can choose from. You can find that info in the links I posted. You will pick 3 different exercises for each category. Take chest for example. You could choose Incline Barbell Press, Hammer Strength Chest Press, and Decline Barbell Bench Press. You will do this for every muslce group/category. Then rotate them with your respective A and B workout. Thus, you will have 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, and 3B workout routines. Keep it in that order and repeat.

Rest Pause:
Another huge priciple is that of rest-pause. Basically, after you finish your first working set, you rest for a total of 12-15 deep breaths and then complete your second set. Same thing with your third and final set. It is critical that you go to failure on EVERY working set! With the limited recovery time your sets may look something like this: set 1 you get 8 reps, set 2 you get 4 reps, and set 3 you only get 2 reps. That's good, you've exhausted and stimulated that muscle to grow without an insane amount of volume. Certain exercises, such as deadlifts, use straight sets instead of rest-pause due to safety concerns.

Other related info:
You need to be progressive so track your workouts. Seek to beat your previous workout every time.

Periodization is also important. After 4-6 weeks your body and CNS needs a break and chance to fully recover. This is where you will do an approximate 2 week cruise phase, where you drop the weights and never fo to failure. It's similar in concept to the deloading phase.

Everything else, and anything I missed, are found in those links.

If you want a more personalized and specifically designed workout tailored to you, then you can contact Dante or one of his trained personnel. In fact many prominent bodybuilders have used him. One example is Dusty Hanshaw who iForce sponsors.

I had some good results from this one and came to love Pendlay Rows because of it. I made some good progress before I finally leveled out and switch up my routine. Here’s a good c/p of the program.

INTRODUCTION:
Relatively easy program to understand. It nicely illustrates the importance of making systematic progression to drive gains and increase the core lifts.

HISTORY:
One of the many flavors of Bill Starr's 5x5 workouts. This particular one is designed with the intermediate lifter. Someone who has experience with the lifts and some decent training history should do quite well. It's important to keep in mind that this program is a snapshot, training changes with time, you don't do it forever.

USAGE:
This program is based on weekly linear progress. You take your current 5 rep maxes (5RM) and work up to them systematically by increasing weights in steady increments over 3-4 weeks. You then hit your current 5RM on lifts and continue these incremental increases week to week which pushes you further and further out making new personal records (PRs) every week until you stall on the majority of your lifts. If you miss reps, keep the weight constant the next week and don't move it up until you get all 5x5. When you eventually stall on the majority of lifts, and you will, meaning something like several weeks of no progress in that you can't add reps or weight, you'll have to reset lower back several weeks and begin again. If it's just one lift that has you stuck, reset on that and work up again but don't restart the whole program. When restarting the whole program, a lot of times changing variables is also helpful here. I'm not going to cover that. Training is a blend of art and science, and knowing what parameters to change for a given lifter is more art. This is a cookie-cutter, it's meant to get you big and strong, and more importantly training correctly. The best programs are always tailored to a given trainee so being your own coach, you have to learn and seek out knowledge (generally not in bodybuilding sources as a rule and this will seldom do you wrong).

Rep speed is natural, time between sets is what you need. Don't rapid fire compound lifts but don't be lazy. 2-5 minutes is probably right with 5 minutes being needed after a very taxing effort.

CORE DESCRIPTION:
Before beginning it is useful to know your 1 rep maxes or more ideally your real 5 rep max in each lift. If you don't know this - it might be useful to test your lifts first or start light and allow for some flexibility in the weekly planning. The whole key is the weekly progression and keeping workload low enough to not overwhelm someone with fatigue and enable them to get out in front and set records for as many weeks as possible. Said a different way, the stimulus is not getting under the bar once with heavy weight but getting under it frequently and systematically increasing week to week starting within your limits and slowly expanding.

Exercise...................Sets x Reps............. Details

* Monday *
-Squat.............................5 x5 ........Ramping weight to top set of 5 (which should equal the previous Friday's heavy triple)

-Bench............................5x 5 ........Ramping weight to top set of 5 (which should equal the previous Friday's heavy triple)

-Barbell Row....................5x5 ........Ramping weight to top set of 5 (which should equal the previous Friday's heavy triple)

-Assistance: 2 sets of weighted hypers and 4 sets of weighted sit-ups

* Wednesday *
-Squat............................4x 5 ........First 3 sets are the same as Monday, the 4th set is repeating the 3rd set again

-Incline or Military............4x5 ........Ramping weight to top set of 5

-Deadlift.........................4x5 ........Ramping weight to top set of 5

-Assistance: 3 sets of sit-ups

* Friday *
-Squat....................4x5, 1x3, 1x8 ........First 4 sets are the same as Monday's, the triple is 2.5% above your Monday top set of 5, use the weight from the 3rd set for a final set of 8

-Bench...................4x5, 1x3, 1x8 ........First 4 sets are the same as Monday's, the triple is 2.5% above your Monday top set of 5, use the weight from the 3rd set for a final set of 8

-Barbell Row...........4x5, 1x3, 1x8 ........First 4 sets are the same as Monday's, the triple is 2.5% above your Monday top set of 5, use the weight from the 3rd set for a final set of 8

The Progression:
So it's pretty obvious what's going on in this example is weekly increases of 2.5% of your top set of 5 on Monday. So you do 100lbs for 5 on your top set on Monday. Then on Friday you do a triple with 2.5% more, or 102.5. The next Monday you come back and do 102.5 for your heavy set of 5, that Friday the triple is 105 and so on. For the non-squat Wednesday lifts you just increase by the percentage week to week.

Of course you start with a good margin to give yourself a run so you have to back into the initial weeks' weights. That means using some math. Put your current 5 rep maxes at week 4, figure out what 2.5% of the number is and go back and put that for week 3, do that back until you get to week 1. The Friday triple is always the next week's Monday set of 5. Pretty easy.

Some people seem to think this is very slow progress (and maybe it is for a true beginner) but for most lifters this 2.5% weekly is fairly aggressive scaling. Think about building up for 4 weeks and then 2.5% compounded weekly on your personal records after that. If you can even get 4 weeks of PRs, that's over 10% on your lifts in just 8 weeks (there are people who would kill for this and many are lucky to manage 1-2% over that same time frame). People who can keep it up for anywhere near 12 weeks (8 weeks of PRs) are looking at 20%+ on their lifts. Even if one can't get long progression, this is still a good way to go for even a few increments as long as a lifter can make progress like this (and eventually they won't be able to and will have to do something a bit different that looks more like the Advanced version.

Although given the chart it should be obvious, this is not a 9 week program (I think some people have downloaded only the spreadsheet rather than reading since I figured 9 weeks of calculations was enough to get the idea - not much I can do about that). You continue until it stops working. If you are adding 2.5% a week to your big lifts and eating enough to move the scale consistently, there is nothing else you can do from a program perspective to encourage muscular weight gain. Ride the horse and if lifts gives you trouble, either cut some warm up volume or reset it back a few weeks. When the majority of the lifts are stalling, reset the whole program and build back up to PRs over 4 weeks. Maybe change some variables (i.e. use 3x10) and/or some assistance lifts (front squat on Wed, *******s instead of overhead).

Impact of Weight Gain/Loss and Experience Level:
Weight gain can be considered a tail wind to the progression. Meaning, you will have an easier time getting stronger and making a longer progression if you are eating enough to drive bodyweight upward during the program. This does not however mean that you should start heavier simply because you are planning to gain weight. The effect is typically not that strong and this is the best way to blow this program up - always better to take more time than less. Another tailwind would be experience level, someone much closer to their ultimate potential is going to run out of steam and have to settle for shorter progressions than someone with 6 months of training under their belt.

A headwind would be dieting or cutting. If you are really making an effort to lose weight and using this program you might want to start significantly lighter or make smaller jumps week to week (i.e. take 6 weeks to reach your current 5RM rather than 4 weeks). Basically the same 200 lbs 5 rep max squat at a bodyweight of 200 is a stronger lift at a lighter bodyweight. So if you are dropping bodyweight, you probably want think about starting lower because your 5RM estimates won't be accurate as your bodyweight changes and to get a reasonable shot at progression you don't want to be starting too high (that said, the less experienced the lifter they might have enough tailwind from their junior amount of experience to override a fair degree of headwind from bodyweight dropping).

Ramping Weights:
This is basically increasing your weight set to set like warming up. If your top set of 5 is 315, you might go 135, 185, 225, 275, and then 315 all for 5 reps. There are several reasons for this, you are warming up, getting a lot of practice and really groove the coordination of the lifts, and contributing to workload without raising it so high that fatigue overcomes you and you overtrain. If you do 315 for all 5 sets, workload is a lot higher and doing that a couple of times a week ensures that you won't last long on this program.

Typically jumps can be somewhere between 10-15% per set based on your top set (or 12.5% and round up or down). An easy way to figure this is to find out what 10% and 15% are for your top set and then track backwards into the other sets using the variance to round or help it make sense.

Example:
Your top set is 100lbs
10% is 10lbs and 15% is 15lbs
Your 5th set is 100x5, 4th is 90x5, 3rd is 80x5, 2nd is 70x5, and 1st is 60x5
These are the minimum jumps of 10%, the math doesn't always look this neat but using 12.5% isn't as intuitively easy to see for explaining this.

Make sure this makes sense and you aren't so strong as to make the jumps ridiculous at 10-15%. But keep in mind, going 200, 205, 210, 215, and 220 is a lot closer to 220 for 5x5 and that's too much on this kind of frequency, it will fatigue you a lot faster (i.e. prevent you from progressing) and hurt your ability to get as much as possible with your top set.

Possible Issues:
If people get stuck early it's because they start too high. There is no negative to starting a bit more conservatively (just potential time spent acclimating at worst). On the other side, starting too aggressively can kill the whole program.* You decide on whether you want to potentially risk a tad of time in the worst case scenario or waste all your time and blow it up getting zero results.

Particularly if people have issues with a lift the bench is where people get caught. A lot of guys have been training the bench hard forever. Probably high frequency and generally maxing it or using lower reps than their other lifts. Well, you want to push one lift hard and not bother much with others - you wind up with an asymmetry in your ability to adapt. You have to pay the price for not pushing as hard on your squat, deads, rows, and overhead regardless of the program and that's just how it is. This is compounded by not having plates lighter than 2.5lbs (so 5lbs jumps), which is often too much for people with the rounding and lifts that just aren't all that strong. Also people put their true, best case 5RM with limited warm-up out at week 4. Most people won't have a problem but really, at week 4 you are expected to do the 5RM and do about 20 reps at varying weights beforehand. This makes week 4 a personal record in reality. Essentially, being more conservative with the bench is better especially if you are one of those die hard benchpress worshippers.

In regards to the squatting or frequency, if you haven't squatted at all, or don't squat full range or haven't done much before it can be an issue particularly if you have enough training to move some weight. Most people haven't had a problem but particular to the squats a few people have wound up with overuse issues. It's not that people can't squat 3x per week - anyone can. It's a matter of conditioning someone to be able to do it at the volume and intensities that this program calls for and acclimating to it immediately. Just like walking 2 miles a day, anyone can do it but if you sit on the couch and your movement is limited to 100 yards per day to get the mail and feed yourself - well it might take some time to build up. Most importantly, if you start to get these issues (and not muscle soreness) but a chronic aching and soreness in the joints/tendons/muscles etc...you need to back off and not keep pushing. That doesn't mean you get a little sore in week 1 and quit, this will take a few weeks but once this type of thing shows up don't just keep pushing. A coach would have you back off or likely not start you here, you don't have a coach so you have to use your brain. It just might take 4-5 weeks to build up and get things in shape to be able to begin this program. That's okay but if you keep pushing and wind up with serious tendonitis it can take a while to resolve itself. Not worth it. In general it isn't an issue but a program is just a 'point in time' example, some people might be ready for that point, some won't. I tried to set this up where it should be okay for just about everyone, that doesn't mean than a few people may not have an issue with the parameters.

OTHER PERTINENT INFORMATION:
The Lifts:

Squats - these should be full range Olympic style squats. Use the full range of your body - that means as low as you can go which for almost everyone is past parallel. If the top of your thighs aren't at least parallel it's no good. If you think this is bad for your knees going low, you and whoever told you that are relying on an old wives tale. Anyone who knows the human body will tell you that below parallel is MUCH safer on the knees whereas parallel and above put all the sheer right on them and doesn’t allow proper transfer of the load to the rest of your body (this is how your body was designed). Read the Squat article from Arioch for a complete description and references on the mechanics of the squat and depth.

Deads - each rep is deweighted fully on the floor. No touch and go. This is called the 'dead'lift because the weight is 'dead' on the ground. You can touch and go warm ups but that's it.

Military - standing overhead presses. Supporting weight overhead is a fundamental exercise and stimulates the whole body. Push presses are a fine substitute.

Rows - 90 degrees and done dynamically (Accelerate the weight into your body - do not jerk it but constantly increase the pace like an oar through water).

Common Sense - you should know how to do the lifts before starting a program like this. Start light and learn. Don't include brand new compound lifts that have you training near your limit without some time in. This is how you get hurt. Compound lifts load the entire body and are very effective. If you have a weak link, they will bring it up - of course if you haven't trained the lift long enough for this to happen your weak link may get you hurt. Use your brain. The rest is self explanatory.

Time Between Sets:
Don't over think this. Use a natural rep speed, take what you need between sets. Don't be lazy but don't rush. You can't be doing rapid fire sets of big compound lifts. Maybe on the lightest warm-ups you take a minute but most sets will be 2-5 minute range with 2 being between fairly easy sets and 5 being after a heavy set in preparation for another very serious major effort that drains you. I can see exceeding the 5 minute limit by a tad when really pushing near failure in the PR weeks when you are uncertain of getting your reps on your last set. Just use your brain and don't micromanage.

Diet:
Depends on whether you are trying to gain muscle or what. I will say that for gaining muscle, caloric excess must be present. More people, particularly bodybuilders, go wrong here. If caloric excess is present and training stinks, you will get fatter. The few guys who have come back with no weight gain got very strong and gained no net weight - guess what - they were already fairly lean (i.e. no excess in their diet otherwise they'd have been fatter) and they didn't gain fat or muscle (no caloric excess during training). There's nothing any program can do if you won't eat. So caloric excess is a requirement, you don't need to eat like a slob but it will work infinitely better than not eating enough healthy food for this purpose. Lots of people have gotten big and strong on diets that were bad, if you choose to eat squeaky clean, kudos to you but it is not critical to putting on muscle (it might be critical to a long high quality life though).

Incorporating the Olympic Lifts:
The above is basically a setup for someone who doesn't know the OL's. Starr's original workout included Power Cleans and High Pulls. Instead of Bent Rows substitute Power Cleans. Rather than Deads substitute High Pulls. That’s a quick and dirty way of handling this without much disruption.

Substituting Exercises:
Don't mess with this. Every bodybuilder seems to have an overwhelming desire to customize everything. The bottom line is that these are all the most effective exercises and just about anything one does will result in less gains. As a rule those people who want to change it don't know enough to make proper alterations - those who do know enough, don't have much to change. Do not sub machines - don't even think about it, hit yourself with a plate if you must. For arms choose a single biceps and triceps exercise and perform them at the end once per week for 3 sets of whatever - your arms will take a beating from all the pulling and pressing anyway. If you want to chin on Wednesday or do a few sets of pulldowns/ups that's fine (avoid the machines if you can use bodyweight). Core work is always fine. Cardio is fine - interval training is the best for this. If this is just too much mental strain, take solace in the fact that it's just a few weeks, you'll gain a ton of muscle and strength and then you can spend the next 4 weeks adding the minute detail to refine the gained mass.

New or Beginner Lifters:
This is not a beginner program. You will make faster progress with less workload on a true beginner program. I really recommend Rippetoe's Starting Strength for beginners or novices. It's so critical to learn the lifts correctly and get started on a good program (i.e. not what one typically finds on bodybuilding sites). Rippetoe is the man coaching beginners and putting muscle on them with 30-40lbs in 4-6 months being quite normal. The book will handle teaching you all the lifts. On top of that the book covers everything to get you set up on a program that is time proven as one of if not the best beginner programs available.

Advanced Lifters:
After a while, linear progress doesn't work as well. You want to do this for as long as you can. And I mean, resetting and running at your records, changing some exercises, rep ranges, whatever, just keep trying to get some linear progress as you want to milk this kind of progression for all it's worth.

Ripptoe Routine

Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength Routine is a great training routine for beginners.

Assistance work:
Many people don’t understand that compound lifts also work your arms and seem to insist on direct arm work. This program doesn’t incorporate them at the beginning but allows a limited amount later.

The Diet:
If you are bulking, which is what people usually do on this program, you need to be eating like there is no tomorrow. 3000-4000 calories a day. Make sure you get 1 to 2 x your bodyweight in protein (in grams) and more than that in carbs. Mark Rippetoe also suggests that you drink up to a gallon of milk a day and plenty of water.

Make sure you get a huge breakfast. Mark recommends 4 huge meals a day with breakfast being the largest. Make sure all your meals have plenty of both carbs and protein! Also look into getting a PWO shake.

Other routines

There are many other routines that people use and are successful with. There are many different options that people can use in a variety of routines, such as: supersetting, compound sets, drop sets, hypertrophy, rep variation in terms of speed, volume, partials, ect. There are other popular variations such as push/pull programs, circuit training, and others. Two other common ones are the back/bi and then the chest/tri and then leg combo for the week’s routine. Or the back/chest, legs, bi/tri variation. I have done all of those.

You also have other programs that are highly commercialized or more effective for conditioning like CrossFit, which incorporates little rest and high intensity for rounds that include cardio, weights, and dynamic exercises, and other programs like P90X which is Tony Horton’s 90 day home fitness routine that incorporate a large variety of exercises and techniques and claims to promote “muscle confusion” and include a couple different phases. Or you could just get the shake weights!

My Current Routine

To preface this, I will say that I am not claiming this to be better then any other workout routine, it is only what I am doing now and has been working well for me, however, it is time consuming. It’s not exact and it varies often but this is the basics of what I do.

-Day 1

Chest

Exercises will vary from week to week including how heavy we go. We have heavy days and lighter days. This is the same for all days and body parts.

Some examples of exercises we do are as follows (not all on the same day obviously):
-All forms of barbell and dumbbell bench press. More incline then decline.
-Flyes/crossovers/crunches, usually with cables and in varying positions
-Some leverage presses
-Pec dec

-Day 2

Back

Exercises often incorporated:
-Pull-ups, BW and assisted
-Lat pulldown with various grips and widths, sometimes even using straps to go very heavy or seated on the floor instead of at the bench.
-T-Bar rows
-Cable rows
-Bent over BB rows
-HS shoulder shrugs

This is one that is supersetted, but different. It is often done in three parts. It is a bi/tri/bi superset for 5 or 6 sets, followed by a tri/bi/tri superset for 5 or 6 sets (or reverse order, doesn’t really matter). Then sometimes it’s just bi/tri traditional supersets.

Exercises often incorporated:Biceps
-Seated arm curls (always one arm at a time, never alternating, both hands holding the same weight throughout the movement). This one involves the arm extending down by your side and then flexing at the elbow until about parallel. This is a great movement to focus on just the bicep and help limit the involvement of the anterior delt.
-Drag curls (usually BB but sometimes smith or even cable as well)
-Seated cable preacher curls
-HS preacher curls

-Cardio
Depending on my goals at the time but I try to do it a few times a week. I hate running so I like to do things like basketball.

There are more but these are the main ones right now. It’s not always in this order and it’s not always the same exercises but it’s always effective. What has worked well for you guys? I'd like to get the AM crowd's input and believe that I can always learn something new.

Thanks bro, some c/p helped but it took me some time putting it all together and in "forum" format but I think it's helpful. Plus I know I will find myself looking back at it later for some details that I know I'll forget. Plus I saw alot of threads asking questions about programs and exercises like these and figured this would help.

Very nice write up, I do too use your current routine but feel the need to change things up, its gotten pretty old

Change is always nice. Keeping things dynamic helps it from getting old and redundant. That's why I try to still have fun in the gym too. I like my current routine and will probably stick with it while its working for me. The downside is that it takes up alot of time. That was one thing that made DC so appealing is that with the Rest Pause, I was in and out and there a few days a week.

With nearly of decade of training under my belt, I've learned one very important thing: there is not a "best" program. To quote Bruce Lee, "Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own."

Every program has solid principles and the best route is to create your own amalgam of several principles and adapt it to your life and schedule.

With nearly of decade of training under my belt, I've learned one very important thing: there is not a "best" program. To quote Bruce Lee, "Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own."

Every program has solid principles and the best route is to create your own amalgam of several principles and adapt it to your life and schedule.

Sure, but some programs are much more effective then others, with better core structure based on more practical research and proven effectiveness. I think many of these better structured programs can teach us valuable tools to use in our own integration as you stated. For example, I have come to love rest-pause and have incorporated it into my workout outside of doing DC training. Just like FST-7 has had some success in helping people to bring up lagging area's. I agree that no one program is for everybody, but I think there are principles and techniques in many of them that can benefit everybody.

BTW, I love Bruce Lee (even got a sweet poster hanging up) and the amazing martial arts talent he had, and he was chiseled, however, he was not a bodybuilder, nor did he posses a bodybuilding physique.

Sure, but some programs are much more effective then others, with better core structure based on more practical research and proven effectiveness. I think many of these better structured programs can teach us valuable tools to use in our own integration as you stated. For example, I have come to love rest-pause and have incorporated it into my workout outside of doing DC training. Just like FST-7 has had some success in helping people to bring up lagging area's. I agree that no one program is for everybody, but I think there are principles and techniques in many of them that can benefit everybody.

BTW, I love Bruce Lee (even got a sweet poster hanging up) and the amazing martial arts talent he had, and he was chiseled, however, he was not a bodybuilder, nor did he posses a bodybuilding physique.

The last part hit exactly what I was speaking about, though. The "best' is subjective and depends entirely upon the users goals. I could very easily point out that a training like a BBer is very unathletic and not practical for sports.

The last part hit exactly what I was speaking about, though. The "best' is subjective and depends entirely upon the users goals. I could very easily point out that a training like a BBer is very unathletic and not practical for sports.

That's true and I couldn't argue the validity of your point, especially since I agree. I love sports even if I'm not that great, which is why I compete in intramurals. However, I also believe that there are good and bad principles in many different programs. I would like to see what has been particularly beneficial to others in their bodybuilding efforts. I think there are training principles, tips, techniques, ideas, ect, that can be beneficial and incorporated into our own program. I'm merely sharing some things that have helped me and I welcome other ideas. I am also interested to see what you have found to be particularly effective, since you have more experience then me. I say this respectfully and not as a call-out in any form. I feel I can learn something from many different people and expand my knowledge base, which would, in turn, make me a more well rounded bodybuilder.

That's true and I couldn't argue the validity of your point, especially since I agree. I love sports even if I'm not that great, which is why I compete in intramurals. However, I also believe that there are good and bad principles in many different programs. I would like to see what has been particularly beneficial to others in their bodybuilding efforts. I think there are training principles, tips, techniques, ideas, ect, that can be beneficial and incorporated into our own program. I'm merely sharing some things that have helped me and I welcome other ideas. I am also interested to see what you have found to be particularly effective, since you have more experience then me. I say this respectfully and not as a call-out in any form. I feel I can learn something from many different people and expand my knowledge base, which would, in turn, make me a more well rounded bodybuilder.

Training as a hybrid has helped my strength, power, and endurance more than anything. For example, most don't know how to properly train for power. Power is trained at a lower weight (50-60% 1RM), but done in an explosive fashion for low reps (3-5). Cardio for me is not done on a treadmill. I do hill sprints, tire flips, hammer swings, and Prowler pushes/drags for my cardio. Another thing that I do (or I should say do not do) is micromanage and overanalyze every aspect of training. Set short-term goals, figure out a reasonable plan, and go for it.

Training as a hybrid has helped my strength, power, and endurance more than anything. For example, most don't know how to properly train for power. Power is trained at a lower weight (50-60% 1RM), but done in an explosive fashion for low reps (3-5). Cardio for me is not done on a treadmill. I do hill sprints, tire flips, hammer swings, and Prowler pushes/drags for my cardio. Another thing that I do (or I should say do not do) is micromanage and overanalyze every aspect of training. Set short-term goals, figure out a reasonable plan, and go for it.

Wow someone who does what I do, lol. I agree here with Rodja I have found over the years that you learn what works for you. I have never done any of the above routines nor knew much about them, but have used similar methods just from learning on my own.

Great posts everyone! I am currently doing DC training and loving it. I have in the past responded very well to Max-OT training and work it into my yearly cycle of routines. Maybe this will put an end to the threads that are labled "best routine for bulking?". If people would just listen when someone told them to pick a routine and try it and see if they respond well to it. It seems as though this question pops up every other day on here and its the same ol song. Well written guys!

Neat thread. I started out with a modified Westside template with an additional delt day while I was "into" powerlifting. Went into it being able to only squat and bench 95lbs for reps and made some good strides but with little understanding of the method and having 0 clue about diet I only went so far.

I increased the volume of the workouts and decreased all my weights so that I could hit all exercises with strict form and things exploded from there. Squat took a while to go up, so I unknowingly adapted the protocol from Doggcrapp and bought that up to an ok number.

Unfortunately my delts have been stalling for at least half a year (doing 85lb DB presses for 10-12, now can only hit 6; and my lateral raises are literally catching up to seated presses), which I do think is due to overexertion of the front delts, so I'm looking to switch up my routine completely and have my eyes on DC training.

I think you will enjoy DC training Torobestia. From my personal experience with DC, I have seen great progress in the mirror and on my numbers. When I leave the gym I feel as though I have made the most of my time. It took me a good 2-3 weeks to really get in the groove of things but work hard and reap the benefits!

Training as a hybrid has helped my strength, power, and endurance more than anything. For example, most don't know how to properly train for power. Power is trained at a lower weight (50-60% 1RM), but done in an explosive fashion for low reps (3-5). Cardio for me is not done on a treadmill. I do hill sprints, tire flips, hammer swings, and Prowler pushes/drags for my cardio. Another thing that I do (or I should say do not do) is micromanage and overanalyze every aspect of training. Set short-term goals, figure out a reasonable plan, and go for it.

I'm familiar with all of those except the Prowler one. Sounds like a technique you'd use at your neighbors house at night.

I agree with the hybrid training that you are talking about. I also believe that successful programs like DC training are a good way to teach new tricks or ideas that you can later incorporate into said hybrid program. For example, when I did madcow's 5x5, I noticed that my bench in particular shot up. This was impressive for me since I had stalled out here for quite some time. After I switched back to some generic program, I noticed that I started losing some of my gains. Long story short, I was able to extrapolate from that experience (and subsequent testing trials), that I found greater personal success in hitting chest and back twice a week, once heavy for max muscle stimulation, and once with lighter weight and higher reps to induce hypertrophy.

I agree with the power range. I'm currently taking a Sports Specific Training class at school and my instructor has been stressing the exact same thing you said.

As for you cardio, it sounds successful and brutal! I think it is a very good way to incoporate the entire body and elevate the heart rate. What I do worry about with it, is the increase in injury and overtraining. For example, some of those exercises, like tire flipping, incorporate alot of muscle activation, not what I want to do the day after or before working the same muscle. However, I'm sure you've thought of this and have found a way to stagger it effectively.

Originally Posted by drinkyboy

Great posts everyone! I am currently doing DC training and loving it. I have in the past responded very well to Max-OT training and work it into my yearly cycle of routines. Maybe this will put an end to the threads that are labled "best routine for bulking?". If people would just listen when someone told them to pick a routine and try it and see if they respond well to it. It seems as though this question pops up every other day on here and its the same ol song. Well written guys!

I saw that too which is why I decided to create this thread. It seems like newer to even experienced lifters can benefit from the programs, and then do as Rodja mentioned, and as I began doing beggining the end of last year, to incoporate the most effective principles and techniques that you learned into one big hybrid training program. You then adjust it as needed. I feel that making it dynamic is important which is why I never have an exact set routine of particular exercises that I do. I have exercises I prefer, but I switch things up constantly. For example, saw last pec day I did incline barbell press...other random pec exercises...and then finished off with butterflyes. Then this time I would do incline dumbbell presses or hammer strength...other random pec exercises in random order...then finish with cable pec crunches. Every few weeks it's then good to reevaluate. See where you're at, what's lagging and maybe needs to be kicked up a notch, ect.

Originally Posted by Torobestia

Neat thread. I started out with a modified Westside template with an additional delt day while I was "into" powerlifting. Went into it being able to only squat and bench 95lbs for reps and made some good strides but with little understanding of the method and having 0 clue about diet I only went so far.

I increased the volume of the workouts and decreased all my weights so that I could hit all exercises with strict form and things exploded from there. Squat took a while to go up, so I unknowingly adapted the protocol from Doggcrapp and bought that up to an ok number.

Unfortunately my delts have been stalling for at least half a year (doing 85lb DB presses for 10-12, now can only hit 6; and my lateral raises are literally catching up to seated presses), which I do think is due to overexertion of the front delts, so I'm looking to switch up my routine completely and have my eyes on DC training.

I can't complain about DC training. I loved the rest-pause and the extreme stretching. Make sure you're hitting your rear delts too (the postero-lateral head of the delt muscle).

Bump for more thoughts! I'm using my current program (as listed at the end of my initial post in this thread) now for my pre-contest prep as well. It has been working well so far. I'm also following Layne Norton's dieting outline.

With nearly of decade of training under my belt, I've learned one very important thing: there is not a "best" program. To quote Bruce Lee, "Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own."

Every program has solid principles and the best route is to create your own amalgam of several principles and adapt it to your life and schedule.

I agree with Ryan. What is "best" for one individual is not "best" for another. In the end, you find what works for you and you make it your own, taking things out and adding things in. I don't follow any sort of training programme set out by anyone and have always modified my training based on my goals and needs at the time for what works for me in achieving what I want - I don't train very conventionally and I would NEVER recommend what I do to any one else. In the end, your training programme should be individualized and specific to YOU and only you!

I think you will enjoy DC training Torobestia. From my personal experience with DC, I have seen great progress in the mirror and on my numbers. When I leave the gym I feel as though I have made the most of my time. It took me a good 2-3 weeks to really get in the groove of things but work hard and reap the benefits!

after this thread i have definitely decided to use the dc workout. i also used to use a westside variation. it was called "westside for skinny bastards". i would post a link but i don't have enough posts.
the westside program i used helped me go from 165 to 190 in 6 months not to mention i had destroyed(prs) all of my lifts especially squats about 160 to 385 now.the only thing i didnt like about it is that you never know what your true one rep max is because you work up to all of your majors lifts. either way i would highly recommend checking it out.

For me:
Layne Norton's Power Hypertrophy split
Day 1-Upper Power
Day 2-Lower Power
Day 3-HIIT
Day 4-Chest/Back Hyper
Day 5-Legs/Abs Hyper
Day 6-Delts/Arms Hyper
Day 7-Off/HIIT
Power days are done in a ramping manner. It starts with a deload of 50% of your 5 rep max. Then as weeks pass it goes 75%, 90%, 100%, Then you attempt to Pr for 3 weeks after this. Then deload and start over. Also the volume with start with 5x5 then decrease to 3x5 at 100% then 2x5 and 1x5 as you try to Pr.
Hyper days are in the 8-15 rep range. You deload these days too. The main difference is you never go to failure on Hyper days, 1-2 rep short always to save the CNS.

5/3/1
Look it up.

Current Routine
Its power building routine from Josh Bryant. Goal is strength, side effect is size.